The Jubilee Synagogue (), also known as the Jerusalem Synagogue (), is an active Orthodox

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

, located on Jerusalem Street in the Nové Město district of

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

, in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. It is currently the largest synagogue in Prague (since the complete destruction of the nearby Vinohrady Synagogue in

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...

), although not the largest in the country (see Great Synagogue (Plzeň)).

History

The synagogue was built in 1906, designed by Wilhelm Stiassny and built by Alois Richte, the synagogue was initially named in honor of the

golden Jubilee A golden jubilee marks a 50th anniversary. It variously is applied to people, events, and nations. Bangladesh In Bangladesh, golden jubilee refers the 50th anniversary year of the separation from Pakistan and is called in Bengali language, ...

of the reign of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria in 1898. The synagogue was built as a replacement for three synagogues (the Zigeiner, the Velkodvorská, and the New) destroyed between 1898 and 1906. Although built as a

Reform Reform refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The modern usage of the word emerged in the late 18th century and is believed to have originated from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement, which ...

synagogue (with an organ and a choir), it is nowadays used by the more traditional ( Modern Orthodox) members of the Prague Jewish community, aligning itself officially with Orthodox Judaism. Still, compared to the famous other active synagogue of Prague, the Old New Synagogue, the Jubilee Synagogue is far less stringent in many ways.

Design and history

The synagogue was designed in Moorish Revival form with

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

decoration, especially in the interior. It was lately renovated and serves religious purposes. Following the Czechoslovak declaration of independence in 1918, it was called the ''Jerusalem Synagogue'' as the name ''Jubilee Synagogue'' referred to the anniversary of the rule of Franz Joseph I in the defeated Austro-Hungarian monarchy. The synagogue preserves inscribed plaques removed from the former Zigeuner Synagogue, demolished by the urban renewal campaign that was the cause of the building of the Jubilee synagogue. The inscription over the entrance reads . The

façade A façade or facade (; ) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loanword from the French language, French (), which means "frontage" or "face". In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important asp ...

and form of the synagogue are a hybridized blend of Moorish Revival and Art Nouveau, with

horseshoe arch The horseshoe arch (; ), also called the Moorish arch and the keyhole arch, is a type of arch in which the circular curve is continued below the horizontal line of its diameter, so that the opening at the bottom of the arch is narrower than the ar ...

es on the facade and on the interior columns supporting the women's galleries in a three-bay building. The

Mudéjar Mudéjar were Muslims who remained in Iberia in the late medieval period following the Christian reconquest. It is also a term for Mudéjar art, which was greatly influenced by Islamic art, but produced typically by Christian craftsmen for C ...

red-and-white coursing of the stone facade is particularly striking. Inside, the Moorish elements are overlaid with brilliantly painted Art Nouveau patterning. After a century of being open to the public as a house of worship, except for the period of Nazi German occupation when it was used to store confiscated Jewish property, on 1 April 2008 the Jubilee Synagogue began opening its doors on a regular basis to tourists and aficionados of historic architecture. The World Monuments Fund provided support between 1992 and 2010 to the restoration of the synagogue.

Gallery

JubileeSynagogue-intr01.jpg, The interior of the synagogue

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jubilee Synagogue, Prague 1896 establishments in Austria-Hungary 20th-century religious buildings and structures in the Czech Republic 20th-century synagogues in Europe Art Nouveau synagogues Art Nouveau architecture in Prague Jewish organizations established in 1896 Moorish Revival synagogues Moorish Revival architecture in the Czech Republic New Town, Prague Orthodox synagogues in Europe Orthodox Judaism in the Czech Republic Synagogues completed in 1906 Synagogues in Prague

History

Design and history

Gallery

See also

References

External links